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The University of Ottawa Common Law Student Society (CLSS) cancelled an election last week, less than 12 hours before voting was to begin, after students complained on social media about a Christian, socially conservative and pro-life candidate who was running uncontested for the society’s vice-president of equity.

The candidate, 23-year-old Garifalia Milousis — she uses an anglicized name on Facebook after her early experience speaking out against abortion garnered her and her family death threats — saw the CLSS’s Facebook ad seeking candidates “interested in fighting for equity issues.”

Christie Blatchford: Culture wars rear head over conservative candidate in university electionBack to video

She applied, passed the bilingualism test, and was accepted as a candidate; that’s when she learned that no one else was running.

As she told the National Post Monday in a phone interview, “I didn’t see my role as campaigning for any one group … I wanted to foster ideological diversity.”

What concerns me is the principle of the matter

She started campaigning early last week, and on Wednesday, posted on the Facebook groups for the law classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022, basically introducing herself.

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She said she was on the executive teams of six campus clubs, including one focusing on combating sexual exploitation and modern day slavery. She is also part of the university’s Committee on the Prevention of Sexual Violence.

And she completed her undergrad degree at the U of O in political science and women’s studies.

After posting this cheery introduction, she went grocery shopping with her dad and younger sister, planning to answer any responses she’d received when she returned.

But in her absence, a handful of students, including several who identified as LGBTQ, did a little digging, found out about her pro-life activism — and far worse.

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She was called out for being a member of the Runnymede Society, a national law student group interested in “debating the ideals of constitutionalism, individual liberty and the Rule of Law,” and which last year had dared to invite free-speech advocate Lindsay Shepherd’s lawyer Howard Levitt on campus.

University of Ottawa campus.Jean Levac/Postmedia/File

In 2017, as a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University, Shepherd was sanctioned by two professors for daring to show a class an excerpt of a video debate involving University of Toronto psychology professor, and now best-selling author, Jordan Peterson.

As one student remarked, Peterson is “obviously notoriously known for his transphobia and opposition against gender-neutral pronouns.”

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Another complained about Milousis’ support for Senator Don Plett’s opposition to Bill C-16, which amended the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code of Canada to add gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination.

Milousis had written, in 2016, to all members of the Senate’s justice committee, saying “while I understand why Bill C-16 has been framed as an advancement in human rights, I am concerned about the sacrifices that are being made in areas like public safety and freedom of speech… This is not an issue of advocating for transgender rights. This is about a piece of legislation that is threatening my freedom of speech.

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“For the House of Commons (which had just passed the bill) to suggest that using someone’s incorrect pronouns is ‘hate speech’ is absolutely ludicrous.”

Milousis was also criticized for a blog post she wrote against the Law Society of Ontario’s “Statement of Principles” (SOP), which famously called for lawyers “to adopt and to abide” by a statement of principles “acknowledging their obligation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion generally …”

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All 22 candidates who were anti-SOP were recently elected, suggesting that many lawyers did indeed consider the SOP a form of “compelled speech”, and in September, the controversial rule was ditched.

Milousis was in the midst of preparing a response to those who had concerns or questions about her candidacy when, last Wednesday night, she was contacted by the CLSS’s Chief Electoral Officer, Nancy Dhugga.

Dhugga was giving her a heads up on an email she was about to send out — that the election was being postponed because, she said, students had complained they hadn’t been given sufficient notice.

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(That may be so. But what is certain is that none of the students complaining on the CLSS Facebook page even mentioned the alleged poor notice. And in fact it appears the notice period met the requirements of the constitution — at least 10 days before the date of the original election.)

Milousis appealed, and Sunday in an oral hearing argued that not only was the CEO’s decision unconstitutional, but also that it was discriminatory, in that what appears to have driven the sudden change wasn’t any lack of notice, but rather Milousis’s beliefs and religious affiliation.

As Dhugga said in her email, “I’ve also extended the nomination period to encourage more participation …”

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What Milousis ended her oral argument with was this: “What concerns me about the series of events that has unfolded is not that I am at risk of losing the byelection…. Failure has always been a possibility … What concerns me is rather the process. What concerns me is the principle of the matter.”

She noted that “The principles of constitutionality and democracy are woven into the very fabric of our society, and they are worth protecting, especially in a context where we as a community are training to enter into a profession designed to uphold those principles for our country.”

She lost the appeal, of course.

And participation has been duly encouraged: There are now five candidates who suddenly crave the job. What a surprise.

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